Land smoother

ABSTRACT

A land smoother having an angled blade with a horizontal capping surface which extends forwardly from the upper edge of a vertical cutting surface. The height of the cutting surface decreases gradually from a maximum at the forward end of the blade to substantially a vanishing point at its rearward end.

United States Patent Reynolds 1541 LAND SMOOTHER [72] lnventor: Eldon J. Reynolds, Austin, Tex.

[73] Assignee: Reynolds Research & Manufacturing Corporation, McAllen, Tex.

[22] Filed: Aug. 4, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 60,786

[52] US. Cl. ..l72/686, 172/767, 172/784,

172/786 [51] Int. Cl. ..A0lb 35/20, E021 3/ 12 [58] Field of Search 172/685, 767, 770, 760, 195,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,416,612 12/1968 Reynolds 172/784 [451 Aug. 15, 1972 3,052,998 79/1962 Childers ..172/7s0 1,818,529 8/1931 'Bockwitzul ..l72/767X 3,407,519 10/1968 Batko .l ..37/42 Primary Examiner-Robert E. Pulfrey Assistant Examiner-Stephen C. Pellegrino Attorney-Hyer, Eickenroht, Thompson & Turner [57] ABSTRACT A land smoother having an angled blade with a horizontal capping surface which extends forwardly from the upper edge of a vertical cutting surface. The height of the cutting surface decreases gradually from a maximum at the forward end of the blade to substantially a vanishing point at its rearward end.

' 6 Claims, 7 Drawing; Figures LAND SMOOTHER This invention relates generally to land smoothers; and, more particularly, to improvements in land smoothers of the type having one or more smoothing blades each of which extends at an acute angle to the direction of movement of the frame on which they are mounted.

Land smoothers of this latter type are preferred over the type in which the blades extend at right angles to the direction of movement of the frame, because the latter accumulate trash as they smooth the ground surface. In the angled blade smoother, however, trash is moved with the soil to one side of the trailing edge of the blade, where it accumulates as a windrow.

Normally, there are two or more angled blades on a smoother of this type, arranged one behind the other and extending in opposite angular directions with respect to forward movement of the frame. More particularly, the rearward end of the front blade is offset laterally inwardly with respect to the leading end of the rear blade so as to deliver the windrow formed by the front blade to the rear blade. Soil from this windrow is in turn moved laterally across the rear blade and past its rear end to leave a windrow on the opposite side of the smoother.

In the customary procedure for working the ground surface in a oval" pattern, the windrow left by the rear blade must be picked up by a subsequent pass of the smoother. Thesepasses are continued so as to move the windrow sequentially across a field in the same direction.

An object of this invention is to provide an angled blade type smoother which forms virtually no windrow.

Another object is to provide such a smoother which is of simple and inexpensive construction, and, in its preferred form, involves merely a modification of the construction of the blades of conventional smoothers of this type.

These and other objects are accomplished, in accordance with the illustrated embodiment of the invention, by an angled blade type land smoother in which one blade, which would be the rear blade in the case of a two-blade smoother, has a horizontal capping surface which extends forwardly from the vertical cutting sur face above the cutting edge at the lower end of the cutting surface. More particularly, the height of the cutting surface decreases gradually from its forward end to substantially a vanishing point at its rearward end.

As the blade is moved forwardly with the frame, soil which is moved diagonally across its cutting surface will exert an upward force on the capping surface so as to raise the blade and thus its cutting edge. The extent to which the soil is so accumulated, and thus the extent to which the blade is raised, will depend on the nature of the soil i.e., soft or hard. In any event, however, since the cutting surface vanishes at the rear edge of the blade, essentially all of soil will pass beneath the cutting edge, whereby there will be virtually no windrow left by the blade.

Preferably, the width of the capping surface of the blade increases gradually from substantially a vanishing point at its forward end to a maximum at its rearward end. In this way, the upward force on the blade will increase in a direction from the front to the rear end of the blade, so as to cause a more even distribution of the soil across the length of the blade. Also, another blade on the frame forwardly of the first-mentioned blade extends at an acute angle to the direction of movement of the frame for delivering said soil to an area in front of the forward end of the cutting surface of said first-mentioned blade. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, this front blade also has a vertical cutting surface with a lower cutting edge and a horizontal capping surface which extends forwardly of the cutting surface above the cutting edge, so that, as in the case of the rear blades, the front blade will rise and thereby prevent excessive loading. However, in the case of the front blade, the capping surface decreases in width from a maximum near its front end to a vanishing point near the rear end, so as to insure the formation of at least some windrow. More particularly, the height of the cutting surface of the front blade increases gradually in a direction from its forward end toward its rearward end, thereby causing a more even distribution of soil to pass beneath the front blade.

It is still further preferred that there be two rear blades, each identical in construction but arranged with their forward ends joined and extending in rearwardly divergent fashion at oppositely disposed acute angles on opposite sides of a line parallel to the direction of travel of the frame. In this preferred embodiment, there are also two front blades, each identical to the other and extending in forwardly convergent fashion at oppositely disposed acute angles on opposite sides of such a line. The rear ends of the front blades are spaced apart so as to deliver a windrow between them to the rear blades near their joined forward ends. The use of two blades at both the front and rear of the frame will tend to balance the lifting forces on the frame from side to side.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters are used throughout to designate like parts:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a land smoother constructed in accordance with the present invention, and adapted to move in a direction from right to left;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the land smoother of FIG. 1

FIG. 3 is a side view of the land smoother;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the land smoother;

FIG. 5 is a rear view of the land smoother; and

FIGS. 6 and 7 are cross-sectional views of the land smoother, as seen along broken lines 6-6 and 7--7, respectively, of FIG. 2.

With reference now to the details of the abovedescribed drawings, the overall land smoother, which is indicated in its entirety by reference character 10, includes a rectangular frame 11 having longitudinally extending side members 12 and laterally extending end members 13 joined to one another at their ends. The frame is reinforced by intermediate braces 14 and 15 extending laterally between the side members 12. The frame is adapted to be moved forwardly from right to particularly, each of the front blades 18 is mounted on the frame by means of brackets 20, and each of the rear blades 19 is mounted on the frame by means of brackets 21, so as to dispose their cutting edges beneath the frame and in position to smooth the ground surface G as the frame is moved thereover. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the cutting edges of all of the blades lie in a common plane; although they may instead be curved or angled to form a surface having a crown or other desired configuration. As will be apparent from the drawings, the brackets are connected to the blades intermediate their opposite ends, so that the forward ends of the front blades and the rearward ends of the rear blades extend laterally beyond the opposite sides of the frame.

As previously described, and as shown in the drawings, each of the rear blades 19 has a vertical cutting surface 22 and a horizontal capping surface 23 which extends forwardly of the vertical cutting surface above its cutting edge. The height of each such cutting surface 22 decreases gradually from a maximum at its forward or left end to substantially a vanishing point at its rear or right end. On the other hand, the width of the capping surface 23 of each blade increases gradually from substantially a vanishing point at its forward end to a maximum at its rear end.

As previously described, soil which is removed by each rear blade will accumulate under the capping surface and thus lift the smoother to permit the soil to pass beneath the cutting edge of the blade, inasmuch as the cutting surface decreases in height to a vanishing point at its rearward end, virtually all of the soil accumulated in front of the cutting surface will pass beneath the cutting edge of the blade, so as to virtually eliminate the possibility of forming a windrow at the rear end of the blade. More particularly, the soil removed by each rear blade will be evenly spread or feathered across the lateral width of the blade. As the volume of soil accumulated by the blade increases, the lifting force on the smoother is proportionately increased so as to permit the soil to move beneath the cutting edge of the blade at virtually the same rate that it is accumulated beneath the capping surface.

As shown in the drawings, and as previously described, the forward ends of each of the blades 19 are joined to form a rearwardly divergent V-shape. More particularly, the two rear blades 19 extend at equal and oppositely disposed angles with respect to a median line extending parallel to the direction of movement of the frame.

Each of the forward blades 18 also includes a vertical cutting surface 24 and a horizontal capping surface 25 extending forwardly from the upper edge of the cutting surface. As distinguished from the rear blades 19, however, the cutting surface 24 of each front blade 18 increases gradually in height from a relatively small height at its forward end toward a maximum near its rearward end, and the width of the capping surface decreases gradually from a maximum at its forward end to a vanishing point near its rearward end. More particularly, the front blades 18 are arranged in rearwardly convergent fashion, and with their rear ends spaced apart so as to deliver a windrow between them to the apex formed by the joined forward ends of the rearward blades 19, and thus to each of the rear blades near dinally of the direction of movement of the frame.

It is also preferred that each front blade include a triangular cutting surface of reduced height at its rearward end, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,416,612 as-.

signed to the assignee of the present application. As shown, the vanishing points at the ends of these triangular cutting surfaces are spaced laterally apart to permit trash to pass between them. If desired, their ends may instead be one in front of the other and spaced longitudinally apart. As previously described, the windrow delivered by the front blades to the rear blades will not unduly load the rear blades, because the soil accumulated beneath the capping surfaces 25 of the front blades will lift them to permit some of the soil to pass the cutting edges.

If desired, additional angled blades of more or less conventional construction may be mounted on the frame intermediate the front and rear blades. For example, a forwardly convergent pair of blades angled similarly to the rear blades 19 may be disposed with their apex behind the opening between the front blades 18 to receive and spread the windrow formed by the front blades, and a rearwardly convergent pair of blades angled and spaced similarly to the front blades may be disposed behind the front intermediate blades to receive and consolidate the windrow at each end of the front intermediate blades for delivery to the apex of the rear blades 19.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth, together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the apparatus.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

1. A land smoother, comprising a frame adapted to be moved in a forwardly direction over the ground surface, and a blade on the frame extending at an acute angle to the direction of movement of the frame, said blade having a vertical cutting surface with a lower cutting edge and a horizontal capping surface which extends forwardly of the cutting surface above the cutting edge, the height of said cutting surface decreasing gradually in a direction from the forward end to the rearward end of the blade to substantially a vanishing point at its rearward end.

2. A land smoother of the character defined in claim 1, including at least one other blade on the frame forwardly of the first-mentioned blade and extending at an acute angle to the direction of movement of the frame for delivering soil to an area in front of the forward end of the cutting surface of said first-mentioned blade.

3. Aland smoother of the character defined in claim 2, wherein said second-mentioned blade also has a vertical cutting surface with a lower cutting edge and a horizontal capping surface which extends forwardly of the cutting surface above the cutting edge, the height of the cutting surface of said second-mentioned blade increasing gradually in a direction from its forward end toward its rearward end.

4. A land smoother, comprising a frame adapted to be moved in a forwardly direction over the ground surface, and a pair of blades on the frame extending at acute angles to and on opposite sides of a line parallel the direction of movement of the frame, said blades intersecting at their forward ends, and each blade having a vertical cutting surface with a lower cutting edge and a horizontal capping surface which extends forwardly of the cutting surface above the cutting edge, the height of said cutting surface decreasing gradually in a direction from the forward end to the rearward end of the blade to substantially a vanishing point at its rearward end.

5. A land smoother of the character defined in claim 4, including at least one other pair of blades on the frame forwardly of one of the first-mentioned blades, said other pair of blades extending at opposite disposed acute angles to the direction of movement of the frame and having their rearward ends spaced apart to permit soil to pass therethrough for delivery to the cutting surface of said first-mentioned pair of blades near their forward ends.

6. A land smoother of the character defined in claim 5, wherein each blade of the second-mentioned pair of blades also has a vertical cutting surface with a lower cutting edge and a horizontal capping surface which extends forwardly of the cutting edge, the height of the cutting surface of each blade of said second-mentioned pair increasing gradually in a direction from its forward end to its rearward end. 

1. A land smoother, comprising a frame adapted to be moved in a forwardly direction over the ground surface, and a blade on the frame extending at an acute angle to the direction of movement of the frame, said blade having a vertical cutting surface with a lower cutting edge and a horizontal capping surface which extends forwardly of the cutting surface above the cutting edge, the height of said cutting surface decreasing gradually in a direction from the forward end to the rearward end of the blade to substantially a vanishing point at its rearward end.
 2. A land smoother of the character defined in claim 1, including at least one other blade on the frame forwardly of the first-mentioned blade and extending at an acute angle to the direction of movement of the frame for delivering soil to an area in front of the forward end of the cutting surface of said first-mentioned blade.
 3. A land smoother of the character defined in claim 2, wherein said second-mentioned blade also has a vertical cutting surface with a lower cutting edge and a horizontal capping surface which extends forwardly of the cutting surface above the cutting edge, the height of the cutting surface of said second-mentioned blade increasing gradually in a direction from its forward end toward its rearward end.
 4. A land smoother, comprising a frame adapted to be moved in a forwardly direction over the ground surface, and a pair of blades on the frame extending at acute angles to and on opposite sides of a line parallel the direction of movement of the frame, said blades intersecting at their forward ends, and each blade having a vertical cutting surface with a lower cutting edge and a horizontal capping surface which extends forwardly of the cutting surface above the cutting edge, the height of said cutting surface decreasing gradually in a direction from the forward end to the rearward end of the blade to substantially a vanishing point at its rearward end.
 5. A land smoother of the character defined in claim 4, including at least one other pair of blades on the frame forwardly of one of the first-mentioned blades, said other pair of blades extending at opposite disposed acute angles to the direction of movement of the frame and having their rearward ends spaced apart to permit soil to pass therethrough for delivery to the cutting surface of said first-mentioned pair of blades near their forward ends.
 6. A land smoother of the character defined in claim 5, wherein each blade of the second-mentioned pair of blades also has a vertical cutting surface with a lower cutting edge and a horizontal capping surface which extends forwardly of the cutting edge, the hEight of the cutting surface of each blade of said second-mentioned pair increasing gradually in a direction from its forward end to its rearward end. 